First FISH Certification of Australian Vessels
San Diego, CA — FISH Standard for Crew Inc. is pleased to announce two vessels of the Austral Fisheries fleet have been awarded FISH certification. The certified vessels, the Cape Arkona and Isla Eden, are Australian flagged vessels that harvest Patagonian Toothfish and Mackerel Icefish in the Southern Ocean. Certification body MRAG Americas awarded the certification after extensive policy and procedure review, on-site vessel inspections, and face-to-face interviews of crew members.
“Austral Fisheries has a longstanding commitment to our people, whose safety and well-being are our highest priority,” said Lesley Leyland, Austral Fisheries Chief Operating Officer. “We view FISH’s independent certification process as best practice, consistent with prioritizing our people, and validation that our fleet has achieved the highest levels of performance with respect to crew treatment, compensation and onboard conditions.”
“We see the seafood marketplace is increasingly committed to providing seafood to their consumers that is not only environmentally sustainable, but also harvested by crew who are treated with respect and fairness.” noted Fridrik Fridriksson, chair of the FISH’s Board of Directors and Chief Human Resources Officer at Brim. “FISH can serve as a credible, third-party tool that organizations like Austral can use to demonstrate commitments to, and care of, their fishers”.
FISH ultimately seeks to better the conditions for fishers and to serve as credible, third-party verification giving confidence to the buyers and consumers of seafood coming from certified fleets. Austral Fisheries joins Nueva Pescanova’s NovaNam fleet in Namibia, APA Alaska catcher-processor vessels, PPLP Alaska motherships, tuna purse seiners of the Fishing Industry Association Papua New Guinea, Clearwater Seafoods Canadian fleet, and vessels of the Fisheries Iceland and the National Association of Small Boat Owners in successfully attaining FISH certification. FISH is actively working with organizations and fleets around the world.
FISH Standard for Crew provides a voluntary, independent and accredited third-party certification program for labour practices on vessels in wild-capture fisheries around the globe. The FISH Standard is based on ILO-C188 and related guidance.
Austral Fisheries is one of Australia’s largest integrated commercial fishing companies, operating in Australia’s Northern Prawn Fishery, Northern Territory Demersal Snapper Fishery, and the sub-Antarctic ‘HIMI’ Patagonian Toothfish and Icefish fishery. Austral was the fishing industry’s first supporter of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in 1997, and the first seafood business in the world to achieve carbon neutral certification in 2016 under the Australian Government’s ‘Climate Active’ Standard. Austral is owned in partnership between Kailis Fisheries Holdings, Australia, and Maruha Nichiro Corporation, Japan.
MRAG Americas is a private consulting and auditing company focused on activities that support
the conservation of marine and freshwater ecosystems through responsible, rational and
sustainable use of fish and other aquatic resources. They are an accredited Conformity
Assessment Body, authorized to carry out FISH Standard for Crew assessments and certifications.
